Blood Brothers
by happy29
Summary: Set after the episode "Blood Brothers". I figured with the damage Danny endured during the building collapse, he needed a bit more care than a few stitches. He and Steve have a bonding moment.


Danny shifted uncomfortably on the unfamiliar bed and grimaced in pain. He forced his eyes open against the pain radiating from within his skull. The room was dark, except for the faint light coming from a heart rate monitor beside the bed. His head was throbbing and he was finding it difficult to breathe. He clutched his right side and turned his head, drowning a groan in his pillow. "God," he muttered as he coughed, his ribs protesting the movement. The last time he physically felt this horrible was when he was in that car accident shortly after he and Rachel had gotten married. His whole body was wracked with pain.

"Danny," Steve's voice broke through the darkness. He leaned forward in the hard plastic chair he had been occupying for the last four hours and touched Danny's forearm, careful not to disturb the IV protruding from under the pristine white bandage.

"Where am I?" Danny croaked out, his voice low and raspy from sleep. "What happened?" He began to run a hand through his hair and stopped short when his ribs protested.

Steve made a face. Surely Danny remembered the building that had collapsed on them earlier that day. They had been trapped under the rubble for the better part of the day. While he had made it out relatively unscathed, Danny had sustained a broken rib, concussion and a puncture wound from a piece of broken off rebar. Still no word on if he had sustained any new damage to his right leg from the block of concrete that had him pinned to the ground.

"You're in the hospital, Buddy." Steve squeezed Danny's arm.

"No, can't be," Danny disagreed as he clutched his side again. "Amber was taking Grace and I home."

"Yeah, that never happened, Pal." Steve released his grip on Danny's arm and settled back in his chair.

"Wha- what happened? They okay? Where's my girls?" Danny's breath hitched when he tried to sit up and the pain overtook him. "Ah, God," he groaned and fell back into his pillow.

"Whoa. Take it easy. Okay? They're both alright." Danny breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Danny struggled with the jumbled memories floating around his brain. He pressed a palm into his left eye. "I don't… I don't know. Everything's fuzzy at the moment."

"You uh, you went into shock once they got you into the ER to get your side stitched up."

"I wha… Shock?" Danny's face contorted. "What's that mean?"

"Apparently, I didn't get your wound clean enough when I pulled out that piece of rebar. There was some rust or dirt left behind that didn't get flushed out. I'm sorry Danny. I did the best I could. I should have…" he squeezed Danny's arm again.

"Hey, no." Danny's hand shot out from under the covers. "Don't do that to yourself, okay? Huh? You did the best you could under the circumstances. It's not like it was exactly the most sterile environment down there. I'm sure I still got dust and debris in my hair."

Steve let out a small chuckle. Leave it to Danny to lighten the mood. "Yeah you do, Pal. Just a little bit." Steve grew somber as he took in his friend's appearance. Cuts and abrasions covered Danny's face and exposed arms. They both could have been killed that day, but Danny had taken the brunt of the attack and it cost him. "Anyway, you went into shock and they rushed you into emergency surgery to get you fixed up. You've been out of it for a while now. Amber took Gracie home a few hours ago. She said she would bring her back in the morning. Doctor wants to keep you for a few days to get some antibiotics in you and make sure that fractured rib doesn't break and do any internal damage."

Danny groaned. "No, don't make me stay here. Break me out, take me home. I'll be the ideal patient and stay put in the comfort of my own home."

"I wish I could, Danny. But you need to stay here where you can get some antibiotics to counter what was left in that wound."

"You're supposed to be on my side," Danny grumbled under his breath as he shifted his weight on the bed. "Listen, I'm sorry about giving you grief about following that lead."

Steve shook his head. "No, don't do this now. You were right. We should have waited. You wouldn't have gotten all banged up had I listened to you."

"You never listen to me. Why should you start now?"

Steve slumped back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. Danny was right. He never listened to his partner. "Well, maybe it's time I start."

"Look," Danny scrunched up his face and held his side when he tried to sit up. Steve pushed a hand into his chest, pressing him back into the bed. "The truth is, we would have never found Dekker's brother had we not followed up on that lead."

Steve relented, again Danny was right. "I'm just glad you're okay, Danny."

"I am now, thanks to you." Danny held out his hand towards Steve. "I never really thanked you for getting me out of there, relatively in one piece. You do pretty good under pressure. Had the roles been reversed, I'm not sure I would have known what to do."

"You've got good instincts, Danny. I have no doubt that had things been different, had it been me under that block of concrete with that piece of rebar stuck in my side, you would have figured out what to do. Claustrophobia aside, you did great today. You were injured but you put that aside and you helped me get us out of there."

Danny chuckled, then groaned in pain. "Believe me, I was doing a lot of grumbling under my breath."

"Yeah, but hey, that's okay. Listen, Amber cares a lot about you. We talked while you were in surgery."

"You, uh… you talked? Should I be worried?"

"No man. I just told her to be patient with you."

Danny remained silent for a moment to process what his partner had just told him. Maybe Steve knew him better than he would like to admit. He reached his hand out again. "Thanks, man. That means a lot to me."

"When you get out of here in a few days, take her to Maui like you planned. Heal up and relax. You deserve to be happy, Danny."

"Thank you, for… for everything. I love you, Pal."

"Love you too, Buddy."


End file.
